In last week’s column we talked about the man that Peter and John through Jesus healed as they entered the temple. How he was so excited about what Jesus had done in his life and to his body he excitedly entered the temple. We talked about how we could not see him losing that excitement for the rest of his life.
We also talked about how so many believers today have become complacent with our salvation. We have lost the excitement of being a child of God and all the wonderful blessings He has given us because of our faith. In these columns I want to share challenges to help us as believers reawaken the excitement of our salvation.
We looked last time at challenge one, that we must simply get excited about our salvation again. When we think about what Jesus did for us when He went to the cross and died for us so that we could have eternal life, and when we think of all the benefits of salvation, we must renew our excitement.
Challenge two, we must get excited about spending time in prayer. There is nothing that builds a relationship more than communication. So let us stop making prayer a ritual and truly make it an exciting time to talk with the Lord. Today let me share with you challenges three and four.
Challenge three, be excited about Bible study. There is so much going on in the world to capture our attention that we do not have time for reading the Bible. We feel like the preacher or Sunday School teacher can teach us all we need to know. I read a few years ago a statistic that said only 16% of Americans read their Bible regularly and less than 10% have read it all the way through. It is time we get excited about reading our Bible and teaching our children to have a love for it too.
We have come to believe reading the Bible is boring and the reason is that most people do not realize some of the exciting things one can find in the Holy Bible. A talking serpent and a talking donkey, a burning bush that does not burn up, an axe head that floats on the water, a man digging a grave when he allows the body he is burying to touch a bone of a prophet that was buried in this grave and the man comes to life and runs off, a king starts to quickly ride his chariot toward a city and a prophet of God out runs him on foot and arrives in the city first. These are just some of the exciting stories one can find in the Bible. We need to get excited about reading the Bible once again.
Challenge four, we must be excited about worship time. We are living in a day when it seems most believers think church attendance is of little importance. People say, I do not have to go to the church house to worship the Lord. Yes, that is true, but there is something that brings strength, peace, comfort and hope when one corporately comes together with other believers for a time of worship.
I know in the last year because of COVID we have had to develop alternatives to corporate worship. My friends it has been wonderful to have drive-up services or online services during this pandemic but let us remember what the Bible teaches us, to not forsake the assembling of our selves together so we can exhort and encourage one another. When many of us returned to in-person worship, I was hearing how excited people were to get back together. Yet in just a few short weeks people have already begun allowing this honor, privilege, and the excitement of coming together for worship to be taken for granted. People are already beginning to find excuses to stay away. We should live with the excitement of the Psalmist when he said, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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